Byeong Hun An’s 65 on Friday helped him into a one-stroke lead as the Wyndham Championship moves into the weekend.
At 13 under, the South Korean was one clear of Brice Garnett (64) with six players including 2011 Wyndham winner Webb Simpson and first-round co-leader Sungjae Im at -11.
An was at 13-under 127 halfway through the PGA TOUR’s final event before the FedExCup Playoffs.
An, who shared the first-round lead with Im at eight under, made his move up the leaderboard with three straight birdies late in his round.
Finishing on the back nine, the 27-year-old South Korean, who’s winless on TOUR, had birdies on Nos 3-5 and closed his second consecutive bogey-free round with four straight pars.
‘I came close last couple years and, you know, maybe this week might do it,’ An said about that long-awaited first victory. ‘But still have two more days and there are a lot of players behind me … just do what I’ve been doing the last couple days and just hit a lot of fairways and greens and make some putts. If someone plays better than me, then he deserves to win it, but as long as I keep these bogey-free rounds going.’
Only one South African remains after Dylan Frittelli bowed out after rounds of 71 and 68. That left Branden Grace as the sole Saffa to watch as he bids to close the eight-shot gap.
He needed to rally, though, after a three-putt on his first hole on Friday had him start with three straight bogeys. It was a case of lucky No 13 as Grace chipped in from 70 feet for birdie and then turned level thanks to gains at 15 and 17.
Close-range birdies at 4 and 5 helped the South African, who has seen his OWGR drop 2o places to 70th since the start of the year, move under par and work his way into the weekend.
The hard work starts on Saturday as he looks to play his way through the field in a bid to improve his FedExCup ranking which is now projected to 93rd, good enough for The Northern Trust but not for the BMW PGA.
